Apparatus for removing lint from textile machines



March 14, 1961 c. L. FELL 2,974,342

APPARATUS FOR REMOVING LINT FROM TEXTILE MACHINES Filed Jan. 28, 1957 2Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. CHARLES l- FELL BY iP/C HE Y, WA 775,[camera/VA M- NENNY A TTO/PNE rs C. L. FELL March 14, 1961 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 28, 1957 4 0 2 i h pm J m i M m m 1:: ww m wmm MMWEMMMWWWMwmmmwwwmW m \1- A i 2 w a if a ,7 1 I "QM \U \Ww: w m wn-mmmmmm| mwh ummmwmmmwwmwmmmu wn mmmn wmmw .MV w W A m J L W o M 5g w MW ||I|MH| H M N s a T m N NL r: N w M E N a E a r m M r A m m M w. 5 rB7 um w m H I E m w 5/ Z 3 0 2 Fa w a United States Patent APPARATUS FORREMOVING LINT FROM TEXTILE MACHINES Charles L. Fell, Rocky River, Ohio,assignor to The American MonoRail Company, Cleveland, Ohio, acorporation of Ohio Filed Jan. 28, 1957, Ser. No. 636,615

9 Claims. (Cl. 15- 312) This invention relates generally to the art ofcleaning textile machines and is particularly concerned with an overheadtraveling device by which streams of air at high velocity may bedirected inwardly into the underframe sections of spinning machines.

Blowers of various types have been used commercially for many years inremoving lint from the upper or creel parts of spinning machines, butnone of these blowers was capable of satisfactorily cleaning themechanism within the underframe of the spinning machines.

More recently blowers havebeen used commercially which ran back andforth longitudinally of and Within the underframe and these devices gavesatisfaction but their first cost was fairly high.

Various attempts have been made to blow streams of air downwardlythrough tubes along the sides of the spinning machines but such deviceshave not been entirely satisfactory because the air streams weredischarged through the open bottom ends of the tubes and, in order thatthe streams might be directed laterally at least partly through theunderframe, the tube carrier was made much Wider than the spinningmachine and the tubes were inclined downwardly toward the machines at afairly large angle to the vertical. This lateral extension of the tubecarrier brought the tubes out into the aisles between parallel rows ofspinning machines where they occupied an undue amount of space, tendedto interfere with workers, trucks, and the like, and even so did notdirect air effectively into the underframe.

The present invention aims to avoid the disadvantages of the priordevices and attains this aim by providing a blower to run on a trackabove the spinning machines with straight tubes extending verticallydown and fairly close to the sides of the machines, and these tubes areso constructed as to direct air streams at various angles between thevertical and the horizontal into and through the underframes of thespinning machines. These tubes are readily adjustable to accommodatespinning machines of different heights, are readily deflectable so thatthe tubes will not injure Workers or interfere with trucks in theaisles, or be interferred with by the latter, and the first cost issomewhat less than that of the abovedescribed cleaners disposed withinthe underframe although the cleaning action may not be quite soeflicient.

The present invention will be better understood by those skilled in theart from the following disclosure of two forms of the present inventiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig; 1 is a perspective view, partly exploded and with parts brokenaway, of one embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

vFig. 3'is a front view of a modified form of the bottom end of a tubeembodying the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of the device of Fig. 3; and

Fig. -5 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 5--5 of Y Fig. 4.

. which runs on the track are shown at 2.

The apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and 2 comprises a blower adapted to runon rails above and longitudinally of a row of spinning machines andincluding-downwardly extending tubes. In Fig. 1, the rails of the trackare shown at 1 while trucks of the supporting carriage These trucks areconnected together by means (not shown) and support a fan housing 3, anda motor (not shown) having attached to the upper end of its rotor shafta centrifugal fan 4. The parts just described are quite like those shownin the pending application of Becker and Miller, Serial No. 354,574,filed May 12, 1953, now Patent No. 2,851,716, issued on September16,1958. 7 1

Fan housing 3 is thin, that is, it has a short vertica length, is widehorizontally, that is, both transversely and lengthwise of the track 1,and is provided on opposite sides with conduits 5 which extend outwardlybeyond the vertical projection of the sides of a spinning machine andhave portions 6 which extend downwardly and are substantially straightand vertical. Each portion .6 is fitted with a tube 7 which extends upover the lower end thereof and is secured thereto in any suitablemanner, for example, as by a clamp 8 surrounding the tube and pressingit against the portion 6.

Each of the tubes 7 is hollow, has an open upper en to surround portion6, has a closed bottom end 9, has a substantially rectangularcross-sectional shape, has fore and aft sides 10, that is, the sides atright angles to the direction of travel of the blower, has an outer side11 and an inner side 1'2 facing toward the spinning machine and providedwith a plurality of openings 13 through which air propelled by fan 4 mayescape in directions toward the underframe of the spinning machine. Thusthe openings 13 are in the opposed sides of the two opposed tubes 7.Each tube 7 consists of an upper part 7a which is attached to conduitportion 6 and lower part 7b which includes the bottom end of the tubeand which is detachably connected to the upper part in any suitablemanner as by means of conventional snaps 15. The fore and aft sides 10are provided with interior pockets 20 extending lengthwise of the upperportion of the tube 7 and for at least a part of the lower part 7b ofthe tube, and fiat, thin, wide stays 25 are disposed in these pocketswith the side sides at right angles to the direction of travel of thetube.

The tubes 7 are composed of bendable or somewhat flexible material, suchas rubber covered fabric or plastic material of a composition suitablefor directing air streams to the outlets, bending when an obstruction isencountered and retaining their bendability for longer periods of time.The stays are composed of material which is bendable under theapplication of forces at right angles to the wide sides thereof butsubstantially non-bendable under forces directed at the edges thereof.The stays in sides 10 serve to reinforce the tubes and prevent bendingof the tubes at right angles to the track while permitting the tubes tobend in directions parallel to the track. 7

In Figs. 3, 4 and 5 a modified form of the lower tube of Figs. 1 and 2is disclosed. These two forms of tube are generally alike but the tubeof Figs. 3 to 5 is provided with flaps '30 which are secured against thefore and aft sides 10 of the tube and extend far enough beyond the innerside 12 to overlap the holes 13, so that if an obstruction isencountered which might enter a hole in the tube and tear the latter,the flap will cover the hole and prevent such action. Flaps 30 projectbeyond the outer side 11. of the tube far enough to overlap holes 13a inside 11 which are similar to holes 13 in the inner side 12. The holes 13and 13a are in opposed sides of the same tube while holes 13 are in theopposed sides of the-two tubes. When a tube 7 is provided with 7 holes13a, an air stream may be directed across the 3 aisle between two rowsof machines and against the machines on the far side of the aisle. Whenthe holes 13 in the outer side of tube 7 are omitted there is no needfor flaps to protect that side of the tube and hence such flaps may beomitted.

These flaps 30 are preferably secured only to the lower part 7b of thetube but may alsso be used on the upper part 7a. The flaps 30 may besecured to the tube part after it has been made by the expedient ofsewing the outer edge of the flaps to the outer corners of the tube,then sewing the sides of the flap to the bottom and inner side edges ofthe tube with the flaps projecting beyond the inner edges and being freeto bend about those edges.

It will be understood that the tubes 7 may be adjusted as to length bycutting off the top end of the tube so that its overall length will beas desired. Also it will be understood that holes in the inner sides 13of the tubes may be made at various places depending on what part of thespinning machine is to be engaged by air discharged from the tube. Sincethe lower ends of the tube are most likely to come into contact withtrucks and are, therefore, likely to be damaged or to wear out morerapidly than other parts of the tube and, since it may be desirable fromtime to time to alter the location, size or shape of holes in the lowerparts of the tube, the tube is preferably made in two detachablyconnectible parts 7a and 7b, as shown in Fig. 1. It will further beunderstood that the stays are preferably employed since they maintainthe predetermined position of the tubes while permitting temporarybending in their direction of travel and that, by reason of the presenceof the stays, lighter material may be used in making the tubes withouthaving them bend or moved to undesired positions by the air travelingwithin them. Since the extreme bottom ends 35 of the tubes are closedand the air propelled by the fan at considerable velocity may escapeonly through the holes on the inner sides of the tubes, it will beunderstood that the air streams must make a right angle change ofdirection and the streams issuing from the lower-most holes of the tubeswill be substantially horizontal. However, the air streams issuing fromholes progressively higher up in the tubes will have increasingangularity to the horizontal since, in eflect, when the main air streammoves vertically downward in the tube the part flowing along the innerwalls of the tubes will be peeled off by the lower edges of the openingsand hence these streams will have a larger vertical component and asmaller horizontal component than the streams at the bottom of the tube.This action is advantageous because by suitably selecting the location,size and shape of the holes, air streams of various sizes andangularities may be directed at various parts of the spinning machineand hence any desired cleaning may be had and the same parts may becleaned by streams striking the parts at different angles. No suchadvantages are realizable with tubes open only through their bottomends.

Having thus described this invention in such full, clear, concise andexact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which itpertains to make and use the same, and having set forth the best modecontemplated of carrying out this invention, I state that thesubject-matter which I regard as being my invention is particularlypointed out and distinctly claimed in what is claimed, it beingunderstood that equivalents or modifications of, or substitutions for,parts of the above specifically described embodiments of the inventionmay be made without departing from the scope of the invention as setforth in what is claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. In apparatus to travel horizontally over textile machines forremoving lint therefrom, a horizontal fan housing having an air intakeopening in its top and air outlet conduits on opposite sides thereof,said conduits extending out horizontally from the housing and thendownwardly, hollow tubes composed of material relatively flexible andbendable as compared with the material of said conduits and having openupper ends surrounding and secured to the downwardly extending portionsof said conduits, each tube having pockets in its fore and aft sides,air outlet openings in one side, and a closed bottom end, and fiat staysin said pockets and bendable in the direction of travel of the tube butsubstantially nonbendable at right angles to said direction of travel.

2. In apparatus to travel horizontally over textile machines forremoving lint therefrom, a tube approximately rectangular incross-section, composed of flexible, nonmetallic material and having anopen top end, a closed bottom end, fore and aft sides having pocketstherein, a closed outer side and an inner side adjacent to a textilemachine provided with air outlets, and flat, wide, thin stays in saidpockets positioned edgewise relative to said outer an dinner sides, saidstays being bendable under forces applied at right angles to the widesurfaces and relatively non-bendable as compared therewith under forcesapplied to the edge surfaces, said tube consisting of an upper sectionand a lower section and means for detachably connecting them together,the fore and aft sides extending beyond the inner side far enough toprovide protection for the holes in the inner side.

3. In apparatus to travel horizontally over textile machines forremoving lint therefrom, a horizontal fan housing having an air intakeopening in its top and air outlet conduits on opposite sides thereof,said conduits extending out horizontally from the housing and thendownwardly, hollow tubes composed of material relatively flexible,non-metallic as compared with the material of said conduits and havingopen upper ends surrounding and secured to the downwardly extendingportions of said conduits, each of said tubes having fore and aft sides,air outlet openings in its side adjacent to a textile machine and aclosed bottom end, and flat stays secured in place adjacent to the foreand aft sides and bendable in the direction of travel of the tubes butsubstantially non-bendable at right angles to said direction of travel.

4. In apparatus to travel horizontally over textile machines forremoving lint therefrom, a tube approximately rectangular incross-section, composed of flexible, fiber containing material andhaving an open top end, a closed bottom end, fore and aft sides havingpockets therein, a closed outer side and an inner side adjacent to atextile machine and provided with air outlets, and flat, wide, thinstays in said pockets positioned edgewise relative to said outer andinner sides, said stays being bendable under forces applied at rightangles to the wide surfaces and relatively non-bendable as comparedtherewith under forces applied to the edge surfaces, said tubeconsisting of an upper section and a lower section and means fordetachably connecting them together.

5. In apparatus for removing lint from textile machines, a tubeapproximately rectangular in cross section, composed of flexible,non-metallic, fiber-containing material and having an open top end toreceive a stream of air under pressure, a closed bottom end, and a sideto be opposed to a textile machine and provided with outlets to directstreams of air toward said machine, and substantially parallel, flexibleflaps extending beyond said side toward a textile machine far enough tocover the air outlets upon deflection and thereby to provide protectionfor said outlets.

6. In apparatus to travel horizontally over textile machines forremoving lint therefrom, a tube approximately rectangular incross-section, composed of flexible, fiber containing, readily bendablematerial and having an open top end, a closed bottom end, fore and aftsides having pockets therein, a closed outer side and an inner sideopposed to a textile machine and provided with air outlets, and flat,wide, thin stays in said pockets positioned edgewise relative to saidouter and inner sides, the fore and aft side extending beyond the innerside far enough to provide protection for the holes in the inner side.

'7. In apparatus to travel horizontally over textile machines forremoving lint therefrom, a tube approximately rectangular incross-section, composed of flexible, readily bendable material andhaving an open top end, a closed bottom end, fore and aft sides havingpockets therein, a closed outer side and an inner side opposed to atextile machine and provided with air outlets, and flat, wide, thinstays in said pockets positioned edgewise relative to said outer andinner sides, said tube consisting of an upper section and a lowersection and means for detachably connecting them together, the fore andaft sides extending beyond the inner side far enough to afiordprotection for the holes in the inner side.

8. In apparatus for removing lint from textile machines, a tube composedof flexible, non-metallic, fibercontaining material having an open topend to receive a stream of air under pressure, a closed bottom end, aside to be opposed to a textile machine and provided with air outlets,and sides at approximately right angles to said outlet-containing sideprovided with pockets, flat, wide, thin stays in said pockets positionededgewise relative to said outlet-bearing side and flaps extending towarda textile machine from said outlet-containing side to protect saidoutlets.

9. In apparatus to travel horizontally over textile machines forremoving lint therefrom, a tube composed of fiexible, fiber-containingmaterial to be suspended in vertical position from said travelingapparatus and having an open top end to receive a stream of air underpressure, a side to be opposed to a textile machine and provided withvertically spaced outlets to discharge separate streams of said airunder pressure against vertically spaced parts of the textile machineand fore and aft sides,

and means strongly resistant to bending of the tube in one direction andweakly resistant to bending of the tube in a direction at substantiallyright angles thereto, said means including a flat, wide, thin stayextending substan tially the length of the tube and fixed in at leastone of the fore and aft sides thereof and having wide side sur-. facesdisposed at substantially right angles to the direction of travel of thetube and to the side of the textile machine, said stay beingsubstantially non-bendable in directions parallel to its side surfacesand readily bendable in directions at right angles to its side surfaces.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHERREFERENCES Bulletin of the Parks, Cramer Co., Charlotte, N.C.,publication, date April 25, 1956.

